Continental Shaft: The Best Cars You Can't Buy in the States

Honestly, we could single out most any car on Alfa's always-gorgeous lineup, but we'll go with this tantalizingly angular drop-top that gets our innermost Mrs. Robinson fantasies going.

Audi A1

Ever wonder what would happen if an A3 met a shrink-ray? Neither have we, but here we are. The A1 is the MINI, if Audi, rather than BMW, had bought the rights to resurrect the British brand.

Citroën C6

Lateral acceleration figures? Nrburgring lap times? The French say a great big non! to nutty performance contests with cars like the C6, which seduces you with its gently arching curves and its legendarily gentle ride.

Fiat 500 Abarth SS

We know we're getting the base version of Fiat's little puppy dog, but whether we'll get this 133-horsepower, rabid terrier from their Abarth tuning division remains to be seen.

Ford Focus RS

The US will get the next generation of the superb international Focus next year, but it'll be too late to nab this RS model, a 305-horsepower screamer that pushes the limits of what a front-wheel-drive hatch can do.

Vauxhall VXR8 Bathurst S

It came to our shores as the Pontiac G8 GXP—and failed horribly. So what did the Australians do? They screwed in a supercharger and 564 horsepower to make a screeching, fire-breathing drift machine. That'll teach us.

Land Rover Defender

Given us Yanks and how we love to go off-road and get dirty—or at least pretend we do—you'd think we would be offered this, the most rough-and-tumble Rover in the lineup.

Nissan Patrol

A brand-new restyling means it no longer looks like the boxy beast of burden known the world over as the UN's company car, but its unassailable off-road credentials are intact. Plus, its underpinnings can be found in Infiniti's new behemoth, the QX.

Peugeot RCZ

A great example of when a concept cars makes it to production virtually unfettered; those sexy Audi TT-esque curves and a futuristic double-bubble rear canopy, all for the price of a mid-range hatchback.

Renault Twingo Renault Sport 133

As long as we're on the hunt for peppy compact hatches, let's spring for Renault's little number, which has the sporty moves and looks of a big red sneaker.

Toyota Century

On their home turf, the Japanese have never had a need for the glitzy Lexus and Infiniti badges they peddle to the rest of the world, and the Century is the vehicle of choice in Japan for the royal family, the Yakuza and anyone else who wants to get around in luxury with minimal flash.

Volkswagen Phaeton

Another Stateside flop, Americans could never seem to get that underneath the budget badge and rather conservative styling cues, the Phaeton shared much of its internals with the Bentley Continental and the Audi A8.

Volkswagen Scirocco

Same price and performance as a Golf GTI, but it looks like that. Count us sold.

Wiesmann MF3

The Wiesmann is a German take on classic British roadsters like the Triumph TR6. Being German, though, it has the engine out of a BMW M3 and hits 60 in under 5 seconds; when you have the Autobahn, we guess, taking it slow is unacceptable.

Continental Shaft: The Best Cars You Can't Buy in the States

If the car industry's recent tumult has any upside, it's that after years of crowding dealerships with some… less than inspired domestic designs, automakers are finally reaching across borders to stay afloat in a keen, competitive market: Ford is importing models from its excellent European division, and Fiat's acquisition of Chrysler means we'll be seeing the first Stateside examples of the brand in almost thirty years. Still, that doesn't mean we'll get everything we really want. Here, we break down the best examples of the foreign cars that won't be arriving on our shores. Read it and weep